Method, apparatus and article-of-manufacture for the creation, issuance, valuation/pricing, trading and exercise of options for attendance rights, and derivative instruments thereon

ABSTRACT

Computer-related methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture to permit/facilitate the creation, marketing, and/or distribution of options to purchase tickets to a particular future event, particularly an elimination format competition, when the chosen competitor&#39;s qualification for such a game is currently uncertain, but where the uncertainty will be resolved prior to the commencement of the particular future event.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to the field of computer-implementedbusiness methods and financial instruments; more particularly, theinvention relates to a method, apparatus and article-of-manufacture topermit/facilitate the creation of the options to purchase attendancerights (tickets), and derivative instruments on these options, to aparticular event and/or subsequent events in an elimination format (orselection based on performance) competition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In almost all events that have an elimination style narrowing of thefield or a process of selection of a limited number of participants froma larger pool of participants based on prior performance (e.g., sportscompetitions), there are a number of problems faced by supporters:

-   -   Inability to purchase desired attendance rights in advance: For        playoff type events, fans would like to purchase tickets at the        start of the season, but since the outcome is uncertain, the        authorized ticketing authorities (e.g., team owners) do not        offer these tickets until continuation in the tournament is        guaranteed (e.g., end of the regular season). Therefore, there        is long lead time between when individuals would like to        purchase tickets to these subsequent competitions and when such        tickets are usually offered.    -   Requirements to purchase unwanted tickets, merely to guarantee        attendance at a particular event of interest: For tournament        type events, fans typically have to commit to buying tickets        without being sure who the actual competitors would be, with the        possibility of the two participants being competitors that the        fan has no desire to watch.    -   Reliance on “scalpers” and other unreliable sources: As the        information on who will participate in future rounds evolves, an        individual may find that it is more difficult to obtain tickets        to these future rounds. Some preference may be given to season        ticket holders, but there is normally a long wait list and a        greater financial cost to become a recipient of a season ticket.        Therefore, individuals are often forced to purchase such tickets        through “scalpers,” “ticket brokers” or other unsavory        characters or risk not obtaining such tickets at all.    -   Inability to actively manage “ticket availability” risk: For        fans willing to absorb the risk of their options never vesting,        there is also potentially an advantage to purchasing an “option”        to the ticket early on when such uncertainty is great vis-à-vis        waiting until there is absolute certainty about the competitor's        participation in the chosen event/game. Such “option” could        potentially be offered to them at lower cost (i.e., “discounted”        in accordance with the probability that the competitor will not        qualify for the event). Currently, fans have to wait for the        outcome to be finally decided and they risk either not getting a        ticket allocation or having to pay a significant premium to        scalpers.    -   Lack of a secondary market: Currently, there is no official        secondary market for post-season tickets, so that if individuals        cannot attend such events, they are left with the problem of        disposing of such tickets themselves.

Moreover, in addition to creating various problems for fans, the currentmethod for selling and distributing elimination- or competition-basedattendance rights is not particularly well-suited to the interests ofowners/organizers either. Among the problems faced by the eventorganizers/team owners are:

-   -   Absence of an efficient market clearing mechanism: Fan interest        in attending these higher round competitions varies depending        upon the competitors—i.e., they would want to attend if their        favorite competitors advance, but would not necessarily care if        their preferred competitors are eliminated. Typically, however,        when sporting events reach the point where such fan interest is        at a peak (when a team has qualified for the playoffs or the        final match-up of a tennis tournament is set), there is a        substantial imbalance between the supply of tickets for the        games (which is fixed) and the demand for these tickets. Since        prices tend to be fixed (by the teams or tournament organizers),        there is no efficient market clearing mechanism and tickets are        sold on a first-come/first-served basis. There is a considerable        unmet demand at this point that is never satisfied by the event        organizer and hence goes to waste.    -   Revenue lost to unexploited demand: As explained above, team        owners/event organizers are not maximizing their revenues.        Currently, only teams that qualify for post-season play make        revenues from such ticket sales. To illustrate this point, in a        tournament with 64 players, the organizers can allocate 5,000        seats (or 2,500 seats per optioned contestant) for the final        match to options holders. If there were sufficient demand for        each of the contestants, the organizers could sell up to 160,000        options on all the contestants, and only 5,0000 of these options        will vest. Similarly, in team sports with a playoff style        elimination, all teams can issue such options and get some        revenue, where currently, no such opportunity exists. In this        way, the organizers have captured all the demand available        (thereby maximizing revenues), fans have been able to match        their needs to the financial cost of satisfying the need, and        the event is attended by fans most interested in the event,        because the options allow such matching.    -   Risk that “popular” teams/competitors will be eliminated in        early rounds: Under the current system, team owner/event        organizers may face financial difficulties if, for example, the        qualifying competitors are not popular, or if all the        “favorites” are eliminated in the early rounds of competition.        In these instances, there may be very little fan interest in the        later round(s) of competition—and expected revenues from these        rounds may never, in fact, materialize.    -   Unpredictable revenues, based on performance: Under the current        system, team owners (and event organizers) have little, if any,        ability to hedge against the risk of poor performance or        “upsets”—which may substantially diminish fan interest in the        event.

Generally speaking, options represent the right to acquire or dispose aspecified asset at a predetermined price within a defined time period.The predetermined price is referred to as the “strike price” and thedate on which the option ceases to be effective is called itsmaturity/expiration date. These parameters, along with the currentmarket value of the underlying asset, largely determine the value of theoption. Other factors in the valuation are the volatility of the valueof the underlying asset (a measure of the probability that the currentvalue will be favorable vis-à-vis the strike price) and the interestrate (to quantify the carrying cost or the cost of financing thepurchase). For a detailed discussion on options, see John Hull “Options,Futures and Other Derivative Securities,” Prentice Hall—Chapter 7.

Alternative forms of options have included those that provide apre-specified payoff when an event occurs during a defined time period.These latter type of options are more in the nature of an insurancepolicy type of application than a true option. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.4,766,539. [Examples of these are options on bonds that can be purchasedby the owner of the option from the seller of the option, at apre-specified price, should an earthquake occur in a specified areaduring a specified period of time.]

Options have been used for hedging the risk of changes in the value ofthe underlying asset or occurrence of event, or for investment andspeculation. The option seller, who is willing to make this commitmentto the option purchaser, receives the proceeds from the sale of theoption and is better off for having been able to sell such rights.Computerized methods for trading traditional futures/options haveexisted for many years. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,201, incorporatedherein by reference. There have been other applications of options-typeinstruments beyond financial instruments and commodities, such asoptions to purchase airline tickets. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,127,incorporated herein by reference. And, there are currently computersystems that manage the sale and issue of tickets to a variety of eventsand under various sale conditions, like refundable and non-refundable,fixed terms and changeable terms, and so on. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.5,598,477 and 5,953,705, incorporated herein by reference.

However, despite the widespread use of “options” in the prior art,applicant is unaware of any previous use of marketable “options” toassign/distribute attendance rights to tournament- or elimination-stylesporting events, especially where vesting of the “optioned” attendanceright depends on the final selection of participant(s) in the event inquestion. Nor is applicant aware of any secondary market for such“options.” Thus, at present, significant problems and inefficienciesexist in the selling/distribution of post-season and tournamentattendance rights, and there remains a significant need for improvedmethods, apparatus and articles-of-manufacture to facilitate efficientsale/distribution of such attendance rights.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one object of the present invention relates tocomputer-related method(s), apparatus and/or article(s)-of-manufacturethat solve(s), at least in part, one or more of the above-identifiedproblems with the current system for marketing and distributingattendance rights.

Another object of the invention concerns computer-related method(s),apparatus and/or article(s)-of-manufacture to permit/facilitate thecreation, marketing and/or distribution of options to purchase ticketsto a particular future event, particularly an elimination formatcompetition, when the chosen competitor's qualification for such a gameis currently uncertain, but where the uncertainty will be resolved priorto the commencement of the particular future event.

Still another object of the present invention relates to creation of anonline, real-time computer-based system and method to facilitate theinitial marketing and valuation of these options, as well as thesubsequent trading of these options until their expiration.

A yet further object of the invention relates to attendance right optionmarketing/trading systems and methods which display the status of a hostof options in multiple events, for different stages of competition, andfor a multitude of competitors, and which manage a plurality ofindividual investment/trading accounts, allowing for the purchase andsubsequent sale of the displayed options through a payment processingagency (credit card charge or bank facility), payment of revenue shareamounts to a ticket issuing authority, a clearing mechanism to managetrades between individuals, charge a transaction fee to the individualsparticipating, and final payment, if necessary, back to the individualswho may have credit balances if so requested.

Still further objects of the invention relate to computer-basedmethod(s), apparatus and/or article(s)-of-manufacture to store data onall transactions, track current and historical quotes of the variousoptions traded, compute indices that track the investment valuesrepresented by various options, compute the relative probabilities thatthe option prices imply of various outcomes, and provide tools tofacilitate option valuation for the participating individuals.

And an additional object of the invention relates to the creation,marketing, trading and valuation of derivative financial instrumentsbased on various attendance right options.

These, and other objects/advantages, are realized, at least in part, bythe present invention, the general aspects of which are outlined below.

Generally speaking, and without intending to be limiting, one aspect ofthe present invention relates to a computer-based method for marketingattendance right options, comprising, for example: storing, in acomputer, information related to attendance right options; linking saidcomputer to at least one user terminal through a data communicationlink; and displaying, at said user terminal, information concerningselected attendance right option(s). “Storing” may include writing saidinformation into a random access memory, writing said information into amagnetic storage device, and/or writing said information into an opticalstorage device, and may also include storing information identifying aparticular attendance right and a current offer or bid for the option topurchase said particular attendance right, storing informationidentifying a particular attendance right and a current highest bid forthe option to purchase said particular attendance right, storing acomplete bid history concerning the option to purchase said particularattendance right, storing option expiration information, storinginformation related to vesting of a particular attendance right option(such as an identification of a particular team or competitor who mustqualify for the particular event, an identification of a particularround of play, and/or an identification of home or away status of theparticular event). Preferably, each option includes an associatedcertificate or certification number.

The data communication link preferably includes at least one internetsegment, and the linking process preferably includes authenticating theuser terminal as an authorized user.

“Displaying” preferably involves use of an internet browser, andincludes displaying information identifying a particular attendanceright and bid(s) and/or offer(s) on the option to purchase saidparticular attendance right, information identifying a particularattendance right and a current highest bid for the option to purchasesaid particular attendance right, a complete bid history for saidparticular attendance right, a date on which a sale of the option topurchase said particular attendance right will take place, accountbalance information for the user of said user terminal, option positioninformation for the user of said user terminal, up-to-date optionvaluation information (wherein the option valuation information ispreferably computed from current sports wagering data and/or user-inputprobabilities concerning option-vesting contingencies), and/or the netprofit/loss for positions currently held by the user of said userterminal (wherein net profit/loss is preferably computed from thecurrent bid(s)/offer(s) on positions similar to those held by the user).“Displaying” may further include sending notification to customersregarding the availability of certain specified options throughavailable communication mechanisms (e.g., phone, email, broadcast,letter, etc.)

Other aspect(s) of the invention relate to receiving a command, oversaid communication link, from a user of said user terminal, which mayinclude a command to purchase the option to purchase a particularattendance right at a previously-displayed offer price, a command toplace a specified bid on the option to purchase a particular attendanceright, a command to cancel a specified bid on the option to purchase aparticular attendance right, and/or a command to place and maintain abid, higher than the current highest bid, but subject to a limit, on theoption to purchase a particular attendance right.

Yet another aspect of the invention relates to receiving bid(s) and/oroffer(s) on selected attendance right options, and, optionally, clearingsaid bid(s) and/or offer(s) through an auction or market clearingprocess that serves a revenue maximization function for the seller. Thismay involve a Dutch auction, or an open outcry auction process, or othertypes of sealed bid/disclosed bid auctions. Further, in matching bid(s)and offer(s), the mechanism may be as simple as pure matching at thehighest price and volume levels, or may incorporate more sophisticatedways of clearing the market, like a specialist market maker function orautomated closing of the bid offer spread.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain aspects of the present invention are depicted in theaccompanying drawings, which are intended to be considered inconjunction with the detailed description below, and which are intendedto be illustrative rather than limiting, and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a chart that illustrates various participants and their rolesin relation to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a process flow chart exemplifying the opening of an account tofacilitate the transactions envisioned in the invention;

FIG. 3 illustratively depicts the flow of information associated withthe initial marketing/valuation of options in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 illustratively depicts the flow of information associated withthe sale of options held by an account holder in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 illustratively depicts the flow of information associated withthe purchase of options by an account holder in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustratively depicts the flow of information associated withthe exercise of options held by an account holder upon maturity inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustratively depicts the flow of information associated withthe settlement of the account balance by payment to the account holderin accordance with the present invention; and,

FIG. 8 depicts, in block diagram format, several functional blocksassociated with the data storage and analytics performed by computersystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, illustrating the various participants and theirinteraction envisioned in the present invention, computer system 10preferably comprises a hub, which manages all the transactions andinformation flows among the various players. Initially, the ticketissuing authorities 20 feed into computer system 10 various detailsrelated to tickets being allocated to the creation of options (e.g.,number of seats, location of such seats, different classes of seats andtheir face values, tentative times and dates for the specificevents/games, etc.). Customers 30 interested in these options may accesscomputer system 10, via a communication link (of any sort, including,but not limited to, internet, telephone, cable, wireless, optical,etc.), and open accounts to transact their trades, and will thereafterbe able to bid on initial issues of the options as well as sell or buyoptions going forward. Payments made by customers will preferably bemanaged through an interface with a payment agency 40 (such as a creditcard payment processing company, electronic payment agency or bank).Dues collected will be transferred to a bank account 50, withinformation feeds back to the payment agency and the computer system, soas to maintain account trading histories up to date. The revenue shareof the ticket issuing authorities 20 will also be transferred uponcollection from customers. Further, ancillary business may be transactedby third parties 60 using the data within the computer system block 10,thereby yielding additional revenue streams to bank account 50.

In accordance with the invention, an option is preferably anevent-strike option with the following characteristics: the individualpurchaser of the option acquires the right to purchase tickets at apredetermined price (or the payoff) from the seller of the option,should the competitor on whom they chose the option advance to apre-specified higher round of competition (or the strike event). Thematurity of the option is the date on which it is finally/irrevocablydecided whether the competitor progresses or not. If the competitor onwhom the option was purchased does not qualify for the specified ofcompetition, the option expires worthless and the owner of the optionreceives no compensation. The settlement of the option will take placewithin an appropriate time frame subsequent to maturity and prior to thespecified event commencing. The settlement could take place in a numberof ways including physical or electronic acknowledgment of ownership ofsuch tickets.

For example, the customer would pick a team/player underlying the optionpurchased to reach a specified higher level round of competition (e.g.,wild-card, quarterfinals, semifinals, up to and including the finalround of competition) in the tournament. If that team/player qualifiesfor the round of competition specified in the option contract, thecustomer has the right to purchase an attendance ticket from theauthorized ticketing body at a given fixed price. The higher round ofplay could be either a single event elimination or a multiple eventseries. The customer can purchase the option to any or all games of thechosen round of competition. The invention is applicable to tournamentswhere there is a regular season that determines qualification for anensuing play-off contest (e.g., basketball, football, athletics, golf,soccer, cricket tournaments) or to pure elimination style competitions(e.g., match play golf, tennis, figure skating, etc.).

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates the opening of anaccount to facilitate the transactions envisioned in accordance with theinvention. Here, customer 110 accesses an online web page 120 to fillout the information required to open an account. This informationpreferably includes name, addresses, credit card information, dollarlimit in the trading account, demographic/personal information andcontact information, like email and phone number(s). There arealternative ways to collect this application information, which can bedone in writing, over the telephone and through other technologies thatare being developed currently (e.g., WebTV, etc.). Once the informationis received, the credit authorization process 130 secures a paymentauthorization from a payment processing agency 140 and blocks out thelimit of funds required and requested by the customer. This informationis relayed to the database and computer system 150 that manages theaccount information, which assigns an account number, password and otherrequisite information and communicates this information back to thecustomer 110 to facilitate use. Collectively, functional units 120, 130and 150 are preferably implemented on a single computer system 160, butmay alternatively distributed over a number of servers/nodes connectedin a network.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which illustrates the information flowassociated with the initial marketing/valuation of options in accordancewith the present invention. Here, ticket issuing authority 210 providesdetails to computer system 280 regarding the tickets being allocated tothe creation of options (e.g., number of seats, location of such seats,different classes of seats and their face values, tentative times anddates for the specific events/games, etc.). These are then posted on theonline service 220 (or other information-disseminating facilities thatmay be developed) so that account-holding customers 230 can access theinformation they require to decide on the various options they would beinterested in through search functionality associated with theiraccounts. Customers may then, through their accounts 230, post bids onoptions they are interested in acquiring, with specifications on optionspertaining to the underlying competitor chosen, the round of play andpotentially the specific games if the playoff is a series playoff,number of seats, and bid price. Verification module 240 confirms thatall information is valid and correctly input, and provides confirmationback to the customer on the bids submitted or rejected. Qualified bidsare then forwarded to the market clearing mechanism 250, whichdetermines the optimal pricing to match supply and demand. It isenvisioned that this will occur through a Dutch Auction, but otherauction or bid and offer type matching can easily be adopted. See, e.g.,U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,138, 5,905,975, 4,674,044, and 5,950,176, eachincorporated herein by reference. Also, conditions like minimum pricereserve levels and adjustments of volume offered may be allowed tofacilitate a revenue maximization objective. See, e.g., previouslyincorporated '201 patent. For bids that are accepted, there would be acredit card payment process with the payment agency 260, which wouldthen transfer the funds to the bank account 270, from which the revenueshare to the ticket issuing authority 210 is remitted. Market clearingmechanism 250 also sends notification to the customer accounts 230 onorder status, e.g., orders filled and unfilled, positions, paymentsreceived and account balance, if any. This initial offer of options canbe made in one offering prior to the beginning of any competitiveprocess or can be made in a series of offerings as the competitiveprocess progresses and the uncertainty of the outcome is lower (therebyincreasing the price of the option), but preferably not once the outcomeis finally decided.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which depicts an illustrativeinformation flow associated with the sale of options held by an accountholder in accordance with the present invention. Here, the customeraccesses his/her customer account 310 to access the option positionsheld in the account. The customer may then have access to functionality320, to review information that helps him/her decide on the details ofan intended sale offer. This functionality 320 includes historicaltransactions (volume and price), valuation tools, other open offers tosell and open bids to purchase. Once this process is completed, thecustomer will typically post 330 a sell offer. This information is thenforwarded to the market clearing mechanism 340. Clearing mechanism 340,as previously described, preferably either matches an open bid topurchase or keeps the posted sell offer open for a defined period oftime during which the system attempts to match open sell offers andpurchase bids, closing transactions as long as the purchase bids are atleast greater than the sell offer, and closing on the lower volume ifthere is a mismatch. During this period that the sell offer is open, thecustomer can change its details by looping back to 320 and modifying theoffer as necessary. If, at the end of the defined period of time, thereare no matched purchase bids for the sell offer, the order is closed 370and the account position/trade status is updated 360 accordingly. Oncethe match is performed, the transaction moves to the settlement 350 tocomplete the transaction, including generating the information necessaryto update the account positions, credit the selling customer's accountand update 360 his/her account balance.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which depicts an information flowassociated with the purchase of options by an account holder inaccordance with the present invention. This represents the other partyto the transaction described above. Here, if the customer does notalready have an account, he/she would open an account 410, as describedin FIG. 2, and then could proceed to 420, which is similar to 320, asdescribed in connection with FIG. 4. Once this process 320 is completed,the customer will post a purchase bid 430. This information is thenforwarded to the market clearing mechanism 440, which processes the bidas in 340 (described in connection with FIG. 4). During the period thatthe purchase bid is open, the customer can change its details by loopingback to 420 and making changes as necessary. If, at the end of thedefined period of time, there is no match, the offer is closed 490, andthe account position/trade status is updated accordingly. If a match isfound, the transaction moves to 450 for the settlement, which involvesupdating account positions and collection of dues through the paymentprocessing agency 460/470 from the buyer, in a similar manner as laidout in FIG. 3, and updating the concerned account balances 480.

In FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the market clearing mechanism may take other formsif required to provide liquidity to the marketplace. These would include“marketmaker” functions, open outcry auctions with or without reservelevels, sealed bid auctions etc. Also, bids and offers may be allowed toscale up or down based on customer defined rules to seek matches.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which depicts an information flowassociated with the exercise of options held by an account holder inaccordance with the present invention. Here, in block 510, computersystem 590 determines all open option positions that vest (or qualify)for the purchase of attendance rights/tickets and processes 520 therelevant options for ticket purchases. The payment processes related tothe ticket purchase (e.g., blocks 530 and 560) is similar to thatdescribed in FIG. 3, as is the remittance of the associated funds to theticket issuing authority (e.g., block 550). Information is also sent(from 520 to 570) as part of the ticket purchase process to facilitatedelivery of the tickets, with the necessary information (confirmationnumbers, names, etc.) being sent to the ticket counter.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which depicts an information flowassociated with the settlement of the account balances by payment toaccount holders in accordance with the present invention. If a customerrequests that he/she be paid the account balance in his/her account, thecustomer account, at 630, is accessed and the balance is verified bycomputer system 620. Then, either a check is processed and sent to thecustomer or funds are processed 650 for a credit to the customer'scredit card account (in much the same manner as a refund would beprocessed by a vendor). Also, the customer's account 630 is updated toreflect the appropriate account balance.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8, which depicts certain exemplaryfunctional blocks associated with the data storage and analytics aspectsof the present invention; in other words, some of the information thatwould be captured and stored by the computer system is described. Asshown, a position information module 720 contains information on trades,open positions and holdings, which is preferably fed by clearingmechanism 770. Clearing mechanism 770 preferably performs all trades,using information from customer accounts module 760, and feeds resultingdata to position information module 720. Up-to-date position informationis supplied (by position information module 720) to a data warehouse730, which can be accessed by custom designed display screens andreports. Further, analytic algorithms and code modules can be runagainst this warehouse data for the purpose of generating financialderivative instruments on the listed options; and indices andprobabilities to quantify the odds of the various competitors reachingthe different levels of competition can be generated. These arepreferably used to evaluate competitors across the specified competitionor across competitions (i.e., either in different locations or acrosstime periods) and even develop comparative rankings. Some of this datacan also be sent/sold to vendors 750 interested in these analytics,published for public dissemination, used in contests, etc.

The above described arrangement is largely illustrative of theprinciples of the current invention. For example, while the illustrativeembodiment(s) is/are described in terms of “options” to purchaseparticular attendance rights, the invention can be alternativelyimplemented by issuing/marketing “contingent attendance rights”—i.e., anactual attendance right for an event that may, or may not, take place,such as a “second round home playoff game at Texas Stadium.” Thiscontingent attendance right is, in effect, the same as an option, butdoes not require that the ticket issuing authority keep track of vestingand actually issue tickets after the vesting period. Other facilitiesprovided by the creation of these options include the ability to splitthe rights to post season tickets associated with season ticketownership. Further, another alternative implementation could be the saleof tickets to such events with a refund option and a refund fee thatwould de facto be the option price at initial issue. Finally, it is notcritical to this invention that a secondary market to trade theseoptions exists. This is a feature that adds functionality useful tocustomers but the rest of the advantages of this invention are stillavailable to all parties if only the initial issue of options wasavailable.

Other advantages, modifications and adaptations of the invention will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the presentinvention allows fans to buy attendance options well in advance—as earlyas before the entire competition starts and all the way until thesettlement time—before the commencement of the actual event(s) coveredby the option(s). Therefore, fans are able to lock-in the ability topurchase attendance rights to certain events under certain desiredcircumstances (e.g., round of play, competitors, etc.). Option holderscan thereafter trade their options (until maturity of the individualoptions), and continue to do so based on the ongoing performance of thecompetitors.

Based on the prices of the multitude of options on all competitors andcompetitions, the present invention also facilitates the development ofderivative instruments on these options and indices, and probabilitiesand statistical measures to quantify the odds of the various competitorsreaching the different levels of competition. These can be usedextensively to evaluate, among other things, competitors across thespecified competition or across competitions (i.e., either in differentlocations or across time periods).

The present invention preferably—though not necessarily—works inconjunction with fixed price attendance rights/tickets, and allows theoptions to capture the market premium (or consumer surplus) that supplyand demand imbalances would create.

The invention allows all team owners to generate revenues by sellingoptions for potential post-season play, so that there is some potentialrevenue (no matter how small), even if the team does not qualify. Fortournament event organizers in single elimination style competition(e.g., tennis tournaments), the present invention allows for the sale ofmultiple options on a fixed number of seats, thereby expanding themarket size (and hence revenues) significantly. The invention alsoallows team owners/event organizers to hedge against the uncertainty offuture revenues.

Unlike traditional financial options, the options marketed and traded inaccordance with the present invention relate to attendance rights toevents under very specific circumstances, like defined competitors andround of play. Hence, the outcome (i.e., whether the option will bevaluable or “in the money”) is uncertain at initial issue and for alarge part of the trading period.

Vesting of the options takes place when the chosen competitorsunderlying the option qualify for the competitive event specified. Suchvesting preferably—though not necessarily—produces an obligation topurchase attendance rights/tickets to the specified event at a facevalue price of those attendance rights/tickets. In traditional options,the vesting takes place over time leading up to maturity, and optionsare exercised only if they are “in the money” or the strike price isfavorable to the price of the underlying asset.

Unlike traditional ticketing systems, which only allow for returnsand/or refunds (if at all), the present invention envisions the optionseither expiring worthless or being converted into the purchase oftickets. Further, a secondary market will be created to allow for theongoing trade in these options, and to allow subsequent participants toenter and also create liquidity for initial participants.

Thus, the present invention fills a void of unmet market ticketpurchaser demand; it provides a product/service that allows the variousmarket participants to interact freely to satisfy such demand; and itsimultaneously provides a mechanism that incorporates individuals'subjective evaluation of competitive outcomes to value such products (aprice discovery mechanism), and further facilitates the trading of sucha product based on an individual's valuation of the option vis-à-vis therest of the purchasers and sellers (i.e., the marketplace). The presentinvention also facilitates the hedging risks. For example, in somecompetitive events, the individual must purchase tickets today forfuture rounds, without the knowledge of who the participants may be. Asthe competition evolves, a ticket holder may be less interested to see acertain round of competition and would like to hedge against this risk.If he/she has purchased tickets for a particular round of competition,he/she could potentially sell an option on his/her ticket should acompetitor he/she dislikes be a competitor in that round. However,another individual may have exactly the opposite desire, and may want tobe cautious about spending the entire cost of the ticket on the daytickets go on sale, as he/she may like the competitor that the currentholder of the ticket dislikes, but think that that competitor has a lowprobability of advancing. The invention facilitates the matching ofthese two desires to create an efficient, market-driven outcome.

1. A method for distributing rights to attend a future event, saidmethod implemented on a computer system, the method comprising the stepsof: storing on a first computer, information on one or more futureevents, said future events are events at which spectators pay to viewactivities and that have restricted attendance for a fee, said storedinformation includes details regarding said future event and comprisesdetails regarding an offer to sell contingent rights, said contingentrights provide a right to purchase access at a specified price to saidfuture event upon the occurrence of a future outcome that is uncertainat the time of said offer; providing a communication link to said firstcomputer to allow potential contingent rights purchasers to access saidinformation associated with said contingent rights offer; and selling,either as a principal or on behalf of a third party, said contingentrights to one or more third parties that accept said offer.
 2. A methodas in claim 1, further comprising distributing said right to purchaseaccess to said future event upon the occurrence of said future outcome.3. A method as in claim 1, wherein said future outcome comprisesqualification of one or more participants for said future event.
 4. Acomputer based method for distributing transferable rights to purchasetickets, the method comprising the steps of: storing, in a computerlinked to a computer network, information identifying a transferableright to purchase one or more tickets to a sporting event, wherein saidright to purchase becomes executable only if one or more specifiedpotential participants qualify for said sporting event; transmitting,over said computer network to a plurality of computers, an offer to sellsaid transferable right to purchase; and receiving, over said computernetwork, an acceptance of said offer; whereby said transferable right topurchase is sold pursuant to said acceptance of said offer.
 5. A methodas in claim 4, wherein said transferable right to purchase comprises acontract.
 6. A method as in claim 4, wherein said offer to sell is for aprice below a face value of each ticket that a purchaser of saidtransferable right to purchase has a right to purchase under said right.